The present relates generally to wood chippers. More particularly, the present invention relates a wood chipper having a winch for facilitating loading the wood chipper.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,548 to Bouwers et al. discloses one type of prior art wood chipper. The chipper includes a rotating cutting drum adapted to cut wood into small chips that are propelled through a discharge chute. Feed rollers are used to feed the wood desired to be chipped from an inlet into a cutting path of the rotatable cutting drum.
In recent years, the size of mobile wood chippers has increased. Wood chippers capable of processing logs having 18 to 20 inch diameters are now common. As the capacity of chippers has increased, loading of the chippers has become more difficult. This is understandable when it is considered that 18 inch diameter logs can weigh approximately 100 pounds per foot.
One aspect of the present invention relates to a wood chipper including a cutter mechanism and a feed mechanism for feeding a log into the cutter mechanism. The feed mechanism is at least partially enclosed in a feed housing. A feed table extends outward from the feed housing. The feed table is elevated above ground level and is positioned for supporting the log as the log is fed into the feed mechanism. The feed table has an outer edge located at a position opposite from the feed housing. An elongated boom is mounted on the feed housing and extends over the feed table. The elongated boom works in cooperation with a winch including a flexible member that extends over the feed table via support provided by the boom. The flexible member rides over an end guide positioned at a free end of the boom. The end guide is orientated such that when the winch is used to pull the log toward the feed table, the boom causes an end of the log to be lifted by the flexible member past the outer edge of the feed table and onto a top surface of the feed table.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a wood chipper including a cutter mechanism, a feed mechanism for feeding wood into the cutter mechanism and a feed table extending outward from the feed mechanism. The feed table is elevated above ground level and is positioned for supporting a log as the log is fed into the feed mechanism. The feed table has an outer edge located at a position opposite from the feed mechanism. The wood chipper also includes an elongated boom that extends over the feed table, and a winch including a flexible member that is held over the feed table by support provided by the boom. The boom includes an end guide over which the flexible member passes. The end guide is intersected by a reference line that also intersects the outer edge of the feed table. The reference line is aligned at an angle in the range of 5-27 degrees relative to vertical.
A further aspect of the present invention relates to a method for loading a wood chipper including providing a wood chipper including a cutting mechanism, a feed mechanism for feeding logs into the cutter mechanism, and a feed table extending away from the feed mechanism. The method also includes providing a boom that extends over the feed table, and providing a winch including a flexible member supported over the feed table by the boom. The method further includes connecting the flexible member to a log, and dragging the log toward the feed table with the winch. The winch is operated such that the flexible member lifts an end of the log toward a location of the boom where the flexible member separates from the boom. The separation location is positioned inside an outer edge of the feed table such that as the end of the log is lifted toward the separation location, the end of the log clears the outer edge of the feed table and is lifted onto a top surface of the feed table.
Still another aspect of the present invention relates to a wood chipper including a cutter mechanism, a feed mechanism for feeding wood into the cutter mechanism, a winch powered by a winch motor, and a control system for preventing the winch motor and the feed mechanism from being operated concurrently.
The various aspects of the present invention provide numerous advantages over the prior art. For example, certain aspects of the present invention provide a relatively inexpensive apparatus that allows heavy logs to be efficiently loaded into a wood chipper. Certain other aspects of the present invention relate to configurations adapted for reducing the likelihood of entangling a winch cable in the feed mechanism of a chipper. A variety of additional advantages of the various aspects of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practicing the invention. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.